Yes, Pat, there were a lot of rumors. If the studio had put its footdown that there would be a "young hunk" there probably would've been a younghunk. We wanted the best actor we could find, best suited to that role.That's Bruce.

Not to get personal, Pat, but have you ever considered maybe seeing howhe performs in this role before judging his performance? I'm just a littletired of people pre-judging others. And especially of the term "wooden,"which people seem to use whenever somebody doesn't act in full blownhysterics. (I can mention that Michael was hurt by many of the comments hereand elsewhere by people saying his performance was "wooden," and later, manyof those people turned around when they saw what he was trying to connote inhis performance...but that made the emotional hurt no less real.)

That said...I have found Bruce's performance in the first three episodesto be lively, interesting, fun, dynamic and intense.

Actors also do better in some roles than in others. There were somemovies where Alec Guinesss was awful. Some where he blew the doors off thetheater. I don't know what you've seen him in before; you may well be makingthe mistake of confusing the role with the person. All I can tell you is thaton this show, he's doing nothing less than spectacular work.

Why don't you maybe see a frame or two of film before deciding on themerits of someone's performance, Pat? It's not a matter of rose coloredglasses...it's giving someone a fair shot and the benefit of an open mind.